PROMPT 1 : This week you will transition to the public sectoran area where strategic management can be highly complex for reasons that Gordon Chase explains in his book. One may feel inspired and driven by desiderates to contribute the common good and leave a memorable legacy behind. At the same time, one may quickly become disenchanted working in public sector due to ungrateful citizens, media attacks, and interest groups holding different agendas. In this week's discussion, pretend that you own a small road construction company and your most generous income yields from contracts with local governments. Pretend that you were hired to rebuild a road in the downtown area of a new town, where nobody knows you, and, as a new entrant, you need to establish your reputation and create long term relationships for future projects. You know very well how to build a road and have a good sense of practical aspects of transit. You know what types of materials are involved in terms of quality, and you know how long it takes to build that particular road. The mayor is up for reelection and wants you to work your magic. During your first meeting with the mayor and city planner you notice that the materials they provide are of good quality, but to execute the design that the city planner has envisioned may not be completed by the electoral deadline expected by the mayor. Additionally, there are some major problems with the design due to some decorative expansions of the sidewalk into the road, which will make road very narrow for the big trucks, the side parking will become very difficult, and the existing bicycle path will be cut off. The city planner is very arrogant, has no interest in your concerns and expects you to implement his project. Additionally, he has strong influence over the mayor, and the mayor makes it very clear to you that the city planner is your boss. As for your company, you have a great team of talented workers who can implement the project with ease. Furthermore, your executive assistant has a very pleasant personality, knows how to make friends, and how to work with and around people with difficult personalities.

PROMPT 2 : This week you will continue to focus on the case you wrote about during Week 3; this time from the perspective of managing personalities in the context of a crisis. Assume that your negotiations with the mayor and the city planner failed as neither of them yielded to your concerns. Furthermore, they both put pressure on you to complete the project by the electoral deadline of the mayor; even though the mayor had no opponent running against him. You are now at the point when the old road is removed, the sub-grade, the sub-base and the base layers are completed, and you start setting the edges of the new sidewalk. After two weeks of bottleneck traffic created by the road work, the local drivers are now noticing markings on the base layer, and the setting of concrete blocks which will visibly make the road increasingly narrow. Some frustrated drivers started harassing your workers. You reported numerous incidents to the city planner, but he doesn't care. One day something bad happened. One driver who was trying to park the car around the newly set concrete block hit a man riding his bicycle. The bicycle rider was rushed to the hospital fighting for his life. The media arrived and started reporting on the accident, and the focus shifted quickly from the accident to the new road. The mayor was asked tough questions about the new design and he made it clear that the city planner was in charge, while apologizing to the victim's family. The League of American Bicyclists became involved as well, asking the mayor why the bicycle path was cut off. The city planner, who still had the mayor's support, started blaming you for not using proper signs. Since the starting of the project, your executive assistant befriended the mayor's secretary, who is now giving the mayor the back story. The mayor decides to confront the city planner. When threatened with being fired, the city planner decides to quit first. The next day, the ex-city planner calls a press conference, and announces his candidacy for mayor, running against his former boss. As a grandiose narcissist and a pathological liar, the ex-city planner accuses the mayor for forcing him to design an expensive road "according to the mayor's vision," and hired his cronies (meaning you) to do the job for him. He plays victim and promises the voters that if elected he will fight corruption.

A) INTERNALLY: How will you use the talent you have inside your company to alter the design, now that the city planner is no longer a direct obstacle? What strategies and tactics will you adopt internally in motivating your team to complete the project in shorter amount of time, and if possible to remain under the budget? B) EXTERNALLY: What strategies and tactics will you adopt when engaging players such as special interests (the League of American Bicyclists), businesses located on that street, the mainstream media, social media, and local citizens? How will you ensure that the mayor gets reelected, because if he does, you will most likely get future projects? C) WRITE: a reflective conclusion about the significance of strategic communication.